Collapsible box



July 2, 1935. vs..1. KLEIN COLLAPSIBLE BOX Filed Nov. 28, 1935 1 I L nPatenfeaiuly 2, 193s PATENT .OFFICE COLLAPSIBLE BOX vStanley I. Klein,New York, N. Y., assigner to Empire Box Corporation, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of Illinois Application November 28, 1933,` SerialNo..700,102

1 Claim.

This invention relates to collapsible boxes which may be used in'avariety of ways as for packaging hats, bakery goods, flat products, suchas filter papers, and the like, and particularly relates to boxes thatare either cylindrical or polygonal in outline. Heretofore cylindricaland polygonal boxes adapted for such packaging have been made up andshipped by the manufacturers in completed form, ready for use,

but this is disadvantageous because of the problems involved in handlingandv storing such completed boxes which are susceptible to being damagedeasily, as by being punctured, and which require considerable storagespace when stacked in stock rooms or the like.

One of the objects of my invention is to furnish novel collapsiblecylindrical or polygonal boxes which may be distended as they4 are putto use, and to provide boxes which when collapsed will require verylittle space for storage and which may be handled freely withoutmaterial likelihood of damage.

Boxes of the kind to which my invention appertains usually comprise sidewalls, bottoms and lids, and another object of my invention is to shipand store the parts of the boxes separately and preferably the parts arestacked vor telescoped to facilitate handling and storage.

A further object is to maintain the boxes when distended by positioningparts, shaped similar to the desired configuration, .in the distendedparts, and an ancillary object is to accurately orient and retain thepositioned parts against displacement by providing locating andretaining portions on the distendable parts.

A selected embodiment of my novel collapsible box is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of the blank for theside wall; v Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are plan views illustrating successivesteps in the folding of the blank shown in Fig. l;

Fig 5 is a bottom view of the side wall folded as shown in Fig. 4; l

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the blank illustrated in Fig. 4 distended;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a bottom for the box;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a lid for the box:

Fig. 9 is a perspective View, drawn to an enlarged scale and in whichcertain parts are broken away, showing the side wall distended and'having a bottom positioned therein;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 showing the completed distended box;and

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view'of the bottom part ofthe distended box.

The side wall of the box is formed from an elongated blank I2, Fig. 1,which is cut from aA sheet of paper board or the like. The blank I2 hasflaps I3 and I4 along one side edge thereof and joined to the body 2| ofthe blank along score lines I5 and I 6. lFlaps II and I8 are joined tothe body 2| at the opposite side edge of the blank along score lines I9Aand 20. The flaps I4 and I8 are terminated inwardly of the adjacent endof the body 2I. The aps I3 and I'I are terminated inwardly of theopposite end of the body and a fold line 22 extends across the main body2| between the ends of the fold lines I5 and I9 and a tab 23 is joinedto this end of the body along the fold line 22. The outer ends of theflaps I3 and I1 are tapered away from the fold line 22. The flaps I3 andI4 are separated from each other substantially medially in thelongitudinal extent of the body by a substantially V-shaped notch 24.The naps I'I and I8 are separated from each other by a similarly locatedsubstantially V-shaped notch 25. 'Ihe apex of the V-shaped notch 24 liesat the ljuncture of the fold lines I5 and I6 and the apex of theV-shaped notch 25 lies at the juncture of the fold lines I9 and 20. Afold line 26 extends transversely across the body 2l between the apicesof the notches 24 and 25.

The first step in making a side wall from the blank I2 is to fold theflaps I3, I4, I1 and I8 inwardly onto the adjacent part of the main body2I. These flaps are then pasted or other-- wise suitably secured in thisfolded position. The blank so folded is illustrated in Fig. 2.

The blank is next folded on the fold line 26 to overlap the parts of thebody on opposite sides of this fold line and also to overlap the aps I3and I4 and I1 and I8. llhe blank so folded is illustrated in Fig. 3. Byreferring to this view it will be noted that the aps I4 and I8 areshorter than the aps I3 and I1.

When the blank has been folded as described thus far,` the end of theblank adjacent the outer ends of the flaps I4 and I8 overlies the foldline 22. The tab 23 is next folded inwardly to underlieA that portion ofthe main body 2l extending beyond the outer ends of the naps I4 and I8and this tab is pasted or otherwise suitably secured to this part of thebody 2|, thus interconnecting the ends of 4the blank. This completes thefolding of the blank into a fiat package and when so folded the foldlines 22 and 26 lie at opposite ends of the flat blank.

When the aps I3 and I4 are folded onto the main body portion 2l, theedges of the V-shaped notch 24 relieve these naps away from the foldline 26 and likewise the edges of the V-shaped notch 25 relieve the apsI1 and I8 away from the fold line 26. 'I'he tapering of the outer endsof the flaps I3 and I1 relieves these flaps away from the fold line 22.This relief of the flaps enables the blank 2I to be folded upon itself,as described, and prevents bulging of the flaps at the fold lines andinsures a fiat package of substantially uniform thickness. A number ofsuch flat packages may be stacked evenly, one upon the other, and thisfacilitates handling and storage.

When it is desired to form a box, a blank, such as that illustrated inFigs. 4 and 5, is picked up and by resting the fingers against the foldlines 22 and 26 and moving the fold lines toward each other the blank isdistended. A blank folded as above described will, when distended,assume a substantially cylindrical shape. However, by providingtransverse score lines on the main body 2l at suitably spaced intervalsand notching the flaps similarly to the notches 24 and 25 at these foldlines the blank will, when distended, assume polygonal shape, the numberof sides being determined by the number of score lines.

After the blank has been distended as shown in Fig. 6, the bottom 21,Fig. 7, is positioned therein. This bottom has an outline similar tothat desired in the completed box and hence, in the present instance,the bottom is circular in outline. The bottom 21 is passed into thedistended blank until it rests against the inwardmost edges of the flapsI1 and I8, when these flaps are to be arranged at the bottom of the box.These edges of the aps provide what is, in effect, a ledge. If the napsI3 and I4 are to be arranged at the bottom of the box, the bottom 21 isthen engaged with the inwardmost edges of these flaps. Since the bottom21 has an outline similar to that desired in the box,

this bottom holds the box in distended shape, as`

is illustrated in-Fig. 9. The flaps provide retaining portions whichserve to not only orient the bottom in the distended side wall but alsoto retain the bottom in the side wall, and therefore a rigidself-retaining boxis provided into which the product or products to bepackaged may be introduced.

The lid 28, Fig. 8, includes a at disc having a depending lip at theperiphery thereof which is adapted to embrace the periphery of the sidewall at the end thereof opposite that at which the bottom 21 isarranged. When the lid 28 is arranged in position all portions of thebox are brought into the desired configuration and the articles areeffectively retained within the now closed box. Inasmuch as the box isformed by distending a flat blank there is some tendency for the blankto unfold and this has the effect of tightly clamping the bottom 21 andthe lid 28 to the side wall and this materially aids in retaining thebottom 'and lid in position.

While I have illustrated and described a selected embodiment of myinvention it is' to be understood that this is capable of variation andmodification and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails set forth but desire to avail myself of such changes andalterations as fall within the purview of the following claim:

I claim:

A collapsible box comprising a continuous side wall formed from a striphaving flaps on each side edge thereof, said strip having an inwardlydirected substantially. V-shaped notch in each side edge thereofsubstantially midway between the ends thereof and separating the flapson the respective side edges, said strip having a fold line extending/thereacross between the apicesv of the notches, each of said flapsterminating in spaced relation with the adjacent end of the strip, saidstrip having another fold line extending thereacross betweencorresponding ends .of the aps on opposite side edges of the strip atone end of the strip to provide. a ap at one end of said strip, saidends of said flaps being tapered away from said fold line, the aps onthe side edges of the strip being folded inwardly onto the adjacent partof the strip and being pasted thereto to lie flatly thereagainst, saidstripbeing folded upon itself along the fold line extending between saidnotches, the ap at the end of the strip being folded inwardly upon theadjacent part of the: strip and being pasted tothe portion of said stripextending beyond the ends of the flaps at the end' of said strip.opposite the flap whereby said ap lies atly against said portion of saidstrip, the fold line at the inner edge of said flap being therebydisposed at one end of the folded strip and the fold line extendingbetween the notches being disposed at the other end of the folded stripwhereby the folded strip may be unfolded into the outline of the box bypressing the fold lines toward each other, a bottom passed into theunfolded strip andl engaged with the inner edges of the inwardly foldedaps at the bottom of said unfolded strip to retain the strip unfolded inthe outline of the box, and a top for the box including a depending lipadapted to engage the periphery of the unfolded strip outwardly of theinwardly folded aps at the top of the unfolded strip and cooperatingwith these flaps to reenforce the box and cooperating with the bottom toretain the strip unfolded in the outline of the box.

STANLEY J. KLEIN.

